Cinderella Christmas (4 page)

“The thing is, I really need a woman’s point of view.”

“I understand.” As the words came out of her mouth, Eve felt horrible for lying. But what else could she do? If he even suspected –

“Damn it, it’s just – the way she made me feel – “

The way you made me feel –

“I’ve never felt that way before – “

Ditto.

“It’s just – there’s something compelling me to find her and see her again, and I have no idea how to go about it.”

Treading her way carefully through an emotional minefield, Eve said, “Do you have any clues as to who this woman could be? Any place we could start?”

If it was possible, Nick blushed even deeper.

“I hope you won’t think less of me, Watson, but I do have – “ He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Eve’s heart went out to him. He was as exhausted as he’d been the night she’d left him asleep at his home office.

She waited.

“She left a pair of panties. Red lace. She left them behind.”

Beats a glass slipper
. A hysterical laugh threatened to erupt and she squelched it down ruthlessly.

“Why would a woman do that?” Nick said quietly. “Why would a woman be so open and free and – absolutely wonderful, everything I’ve always wanted, and then just – disappear?”

“I don’t know, Sir,” Eve said quietly. And she didn’t.

#

A week and a half later on a Friday afternoon, Nick woke up, stretched, and sat up on his office couch. Eve had tactfully suggested a power nap and he’d realized that lack of sleep had him treating everyone in the office with an abruptness that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that Darcy had walked out on him just as things had started to get interesting.

He couldn’t even sit on his couch in his home office, the memories of what had happened the night of the Christmas party were that strong.

Nick still wasn’t sure what had happened to Darcy. In all his relationships with women, one of his private codes had been absolute honesty at all times. There had been women who had walked out of his life when he’d told them he wasn’t looking for marriage. But there had been just as many who had stayed for a few years and let the relationship run its course.

He’d never had a woman come on so strongly and then disappear.

He would’ve never done that to a woman and he didn’t know why Darcy had chosen to do it to him. The chemistry between them had been explosive. He’d never been as hot for a woman, never had sex that had truly shaken him to the core. Nick found himself obsessed with finding her. It took his mind completely off work, and that had never happened before either.

How could he find this mystery woman if no one seemed to know who she was?

He’d dreamed about Darcy. The sex part, of course, but then he’d dreamed that he woke up in bed with her. She’d been naked and still wearing that red mask. He’d reached over and taken the mask off. Her face had been beautiful, those deep brown eyes looking up at him, that short black hair mussed from their previous night. He’d only had eyes for her as he lowered her down into their bed . . .

He’d also dreamed about Eve, and that disturbed him.

His personal assistant had come to him with impeccable credentials, but gaps in her job history. When she’d told him she’d taken time off to care for elderly family members, he’d sensed there was more to the story than she was telling. But one thing was certain. She was a dowdy little thing and wouldn’t be a distraction in the workplace. Nick had certain rules he lived by, and the main one was never to have affairs at work. It put the woman at a terrible disadvantage, as he was head of the whole enterprise. The difference in power made a relationship of equals impossible.

Eve had been so different, so refreshing compared to other personal assistants he’d hired. Several of his former assistants had tried to change that rule, assuring him things would be different with them. He’d managed to direct them toward jobs that were just as good in other areas of his business, but he’d been weary with women trying to change his mind about workplace affairs.

Eve had been like a breath of fresh air. Plain and earnest, she was totally sexless, her blonde hair scraped back in a tight bun, no makeup or jewelry. Her dull, classically tailored clothing didn’t reveal any sort of body beneath. She was the quintessential, practically invisible assistant, the perfect stereotype of the quiet librarian. Her tortoiseshell glasses seemed to swallow her face up, and if that didn’t quell any thoughts of more amorous intent, her sensible shoes would have finished the job. If Nick squinted his eyes and didn’t really look at her face, she could have been an older woman, a grandmotherly type.

Not like Darcy, his naughty elf. Just the thought of her got him going . . .

He stood up, stretched again, then headed toward the door to the outer office where he knew his ever vigilant assistant would be dutifully doing something. Eve had been bringing her puppy to work, and Nick found that he liked taking breaks to play with Maurice. The bulldog was the only thing that got his mind off Darcy. Something about Maurice just made him laugh, perhaps the combination of his earnest wrinkled face and the streak of mischief he possessed.

Eve had warned him from the start that Maurice was afraid of men. But Nick had won him over within a day with patience and a few well chosen treats. Now Maurice adored Nick, and the feeling was mutual.

As he entered the outer office, the pup ran up to him and wagged his backside so hard Nick had to smile. He picked the puppy up and cradled him in his arms.

“Eve?” he said. She was staring off into space at nothing. He’d never seen her inactive and it was a revelation.

“What? Oh, sorry. Just thinking about . . . I was thinking about . . . “

“Don’t worry,” he said, walking over to her desk with Maurice trying to climb up his shirtfront and lick his face. “I’d like to take a walk, clear my head. Does this one have a leash?”

“Sure.” She handed him a snappy little red leash and he fastened it to Maurice’s collar and headed toward the main door.

#

Nick was the only person in the world she’d trust with Maurice. She’d never told anyone how she’d really come to find the little dog. If anyone asked, she told them Maurice was a shelter rescue dog.

She’d been running errands in Pasadena a month ago on a chilly day when she’d heard the frantic barking, an animal in distress. Pulling her car over, she’d parked and followed the noise to a small wood frame house that looked deserted. She’d climbed up three steps to the front porch and heard more barking and the frantic scrabbling of dog claws at the front door.

“No one home over there, you’re wasting your time,” a woman had called from next door.

“There’s a dog inside!”

“I know. They left it behind. Damn thing keeps making so much noise, I can’t even hear myself think.”

Eve stared at the woman for a moment. There was no help coming from her.

“I called animal control, they should be here pretty soon. They’ll get rid of it.”

Eve glanced inside the front glass window and saw the dog for the first time, along with piles of poop and dark pee stains on the beige carpet. The bulldog puppy was too thin and his dark eyes were frantic.

“How long has this dog been here?”

The woman cocked her head and gave her a considering look. “And what business would that be of yours?”

Let her think she won
, a little voice inside Eve’s head said. She knew how to read people, a skill that had served her well. Since she was a child she’d colored outside the lines. Amazing what you learned when there was no one older or wiser to protect you and you had to survive.

“You’re right.” She held up her hands, palms out, and then started down the stairs. The puppy’s barks became more frantic and she thought,
forgive me, but I’ll be back
.

The barking stopped.

Eve headed down the street and turned a corner. She counted to twenty and peered back at the two houses from a distance. Little Mary Sunshine had gone back inside.

It was now or never.

She ran swiftly up the side of the small house farthest away from the horrible neighbor and headed toward the back door. Fortunately, an enormous shade tree blocked the woman’s view of the backyard.

Studying the back door, Eve rummaged inside her purse and took out the tools she needed to pick the lock.

Amazing what one could learn in foster care.

She set to work and within minutes the door was open. And the bulldog was staring at her with huge frightened eyes. As she moved toward him, he backed away.

Eve squatted down, balancing her weight on her feet, holding out her hand for the puppy to sniff.

“I believe her,” she said quietly. “She’s called some people who are coming to get you.”

The puppy studied her, still wary.

“I’m your last best chance, little guy. You’d better take it.”

He still hesitated.

“Come here, baby.”

He came closer, slowly, slowly –

Then he was sniffing her hand, making a weak snuffling sound. He tentatively licked her fingers and her throat tightened. How could someone do this to another living thing? It was a question she’d asked herself many times, but experience had taught her not to be surprised by anything people did.

She slid her hand over the pup’s belly, feeling the sharp outline of his ribs. He began to shiver as she picked him up, then cradled him beneath her coat. Eve left the back door open as she headed toward the street, making sure no one saw her.

She’d stopped at a drive through hamburger place, then a veterinarian. The story she’d concocted, that she’d found the puppy in the street, went over well considering how thin he was. After the checkup, she’d brought him back to her townhouse and they’d been inseparable ever since.

She’d named him Maurice, thinking a French name was appropriate.

He didn’t trust anyone but her and Nick. Nick had a way about him, she’d seen it in how he’d set out to win Maurice’s heart and succeeded.

Eve looked up, memories pushed aside, as Nick and Maurice came back in the door, wind blown and happy. Nick unsnapped the leash and Maurice trotted over to her, his dark eyes expressive, his bat-like ears pricked forward.

Eve glanced at the clock. Thank God, only a half hour to –

“Dinner,” Nick said suddenly.

“What?” she said, looking up at him as she picked up Maurice and sat him on her lap.

“Dinner. I’ve been horrible, it’s not your fault Darcy walked out on me, so in the spirit of making amends, I’m taking the two of you out to dinner – “

“Oh, I couldn’t –“

“Nothing fancy, Watson. And certainly a place we can take Maurice.”

“But I – “

But Maurice was already off her lap and dancing around Nick’s legs. He’d said one of the magic words the puppy understood. Dinner.

Traitor
, Eve thought as she looked at Maurice’s happy wrinkled face.

#

Lucky Boy was probably one of the oldest hamburger stands in Pasadena. Eating there was like traveling back in time to the 1950s. The food was excellent, the portions enormous, the atmosphere festive. Christmas lights twinkled all around the large outdoor eating area, where Nick found them a table and went to place their order.

“We can’t have a lot of this, you know,” Eve whispered to Maurice, who was sitting on her lap and practically swooning over the aromas that were coming from the enormous grill. A group of cooks worked in tandem with the ease of professionals who had done this for years and were excellent at what they did.

Nick returned to their table.

“So, Watson, what do you have planned for Christmas?”

She stared at him for a moment, wondering why the sudden interest in her life. Was he being kind because of his last few grouchy days? Or was he beginning to suspect that she and Darcy were one and the same?

She never talked about her personal life. It made people uncomfortable and then they looked at her in a different way. If it made it hard to get truly close to anyone, then that was the price she chose to pay. Eve felt that if she couldn’t change her past, it was better to keep it locked away and private. Even her girlfriends didn’t know the entire truth.

But something about the way Nick was looking at her made it impossible for the easy, well rehearsed half-truths to come out of her mouth.

“I – don’t really have any Christmas plans.”

“No family in the area?”

“No,” she said cautiously.

“Where are they?”

When she didn’t answer he covered her hand with his and said, “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry. I know you were caring for some elderly relatives before you first came to work for me – “

Another lie.

“ – and the holidays are the worst time of year for missing people.”

She nodded, hoping he would just stop.

She cleared her throat, moved her hand away from his and said, “What are your plans?”

He grinned, that easy smile she loved. “I’m kind of up in the air myself. Dad remarried in October.”

“What about your mother?” The highly personal question was out of her mouth before she considered how he might take it.

“She was killed when I was in High School. A drunk driver.”

“I’m so sorry, Nick.”

“Thanks. It was tough.” He glanced over at the counter, then back at her. “I’m happy for my Dad. Patty’s a great woman. She makes him laugh and that’s all that matters to me.”

“Doesn’t he want to see you at Christmas?”

“I gave them a luxury cruise over the holidays as an early present. I talked him into it, kind of a second honeymoon right after the first one. I made up some bogus story about being buried with work. He was as big a workaholic as I am, so he understood.”

“You took yourself out of the equation so they’d have more time to solidify their marriage,” Eve said.

“Something like that. I mean, it’s not like I still believe in Santa Claus.”

“Shh!” she said, teasing him as she covered Maurice’s ears. “I can’t have you spoiling the magic for Maurice.”

He laughed then, as rich a laugh as when he’d been with Darcy, and she glowed.